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Rolex 24 at Daytona: Drivers have plenty to say after the race

January 26, 2013

There was no shortage of activity on the grid prior to the start of the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

The 51st Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona included a record 77 lead changes in the Daytona Prototype class, six GT cars finishing on the lead lap, 2,524 miles completed by the winning team and a blistering lap of 126.669 mph turned in by Scott Dixon.

Here's what some of the drivers had to say following an historic day (and long night) at Daytona International Speedway:

“This was an incredible day all around. At the end of it, having known Hurley (Haywood) real well over the years by racing with him and just as a friend and then to have him there was a very pretty special thing. … One thing when you get together with a group like this with Memo, Charlie and Juan, you don't try to be Superman. We've got some very incredibly talented guys that can step in and close it out I'm proud to be part of the team, and it was exciting to finish up on top.” – Scott Pruett, No. 01 TELMEX/Target BMW/Riley

“One of the cool things about doing the Rolex 24 with Chip you're a favorite every time you come here. You always have a chance of winning. Everybody that comes here with Chip finds that out. It's fun and it's exciting. I feel bad for the guys in our No. 02 because they had a ton of speed and they could have easily won, too.” – Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 01 TELMEX/Target BMW/Riley

“We were hoping on our strategy to make it on fuel and stay out until the end. That's why we took on no tires on our pit stop. Montoya -- in that car -- was A Class, we were B Class. Today Jordan and Ryan did a great job and the crew never made a mistake.” – Max Angelelli, No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette DP, finished second

“We knew Montoya would be tough to beat. On that last restart, I got around Juan on the outside into Turn one, and I knew I had to go. I went side-by-side with Joao but got pushed off, and that filled the radiator with dirt and we had to pit. That was disappointing, but it was 'go time,' no hard feelings there. I felt we weren't going to beat Montoya, but thought we might get second. Ganassi Racing did its homework like we did last year. When it's your year, you've got to capitalize on it.” -- AJ Allmendinger, No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ford/Racing, finished third

“I knew that I had to do a splash and dash, but I didn't know if I had to push. I started to have problems with my gears. I had to use the clutch to upshift, which was not good, I was losing time. Then when I saw “Winkie” (Markus Winkelhock) and Rene (Rast) behind me, they were really fast and I knew I would not last long with me having these problems. When I saw the white flag I had a moment in corner one. I had been doing this for 24 hours, but the last corners were so hard to do, it felt like I could miss it. Unbelievable. First time at Daytona, first win. — Filipe Albuquerque, No. 24 Audi Sport Customer Racing/Alex Job Racing Audi R8, GT winner

“This is unbelievable. That drive by Felipe (Albuquerque) over the last two and half hours was the best drive I've ever seen in a race car driver by far. We thought we were down and out. We were down by a lap and we thought we had no chance. But Felipe put us here, with great support by Alex Job and Audi.” – Dion von Moltke, No. 24 Audi Sport Customer Racing/Alex Job Racing Audi R8, GT winner

“It was a heck of a finish. The last two or three hours I pushed like a sprint race. I had a lot of fights with Ferraris, Audis and Porsches. Everything was fair, but the Audi won by two or three seconds. It's a bit frustrating, but we had a great race. It was great fun, and hopefully, next year again.” – Rene Rast, No. 52 Audi Sport Customer Racing/APR Motorsport Audi R8, finished second in GT

“It's been a long time. I won this race in 2009, albeit a different class. New class with new cars -- I was in the inaugural DP race, but didn't win that one. Napleton Racing's Ron Barnaba and Mike Colucci are long-time old friends, and Shane Lewis picked this early on and handed it off to me. Also Jim Norman and Nelson Canache did a great job.” – David Donohue, No. 16 Napleton Racing Porsche Cayman, GX winner